FROM THE BLOTTER: Man accused of DUI, robbery, assault

BIG LAKE — Alaska State Troopers say a man who drunkenly drove into a ditch later tried to steal a replacement vehicle.

According to a trooper press statement, at 2 a.m. on Thursday, troopers met Jeffrie T. Lucore, who by then was on foot, walking down Susitna Parkway.

Troopers say he assaulted another man and tried to take his vehicle, but was apparently unsuccessful.

They also say that prior to the attempted theft, Lucore drove his own vehicle off the road at Mile 6 of Big Lake Road.

Lucore was jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility on $5,000 bail. Troopers say he will be charged with robbery, assault and DUI.

Mayor gets rescue truck home

HOUSTON — Mayor Roger Purcell is back in town and so is the city’s new rescue truck.

Purcell and his wife drove the truck to Houston from the East Coast over the holidays. He said the city didn’t have the money to ship the truck. He would have preferred a firefighter drive it north but no one in the department had the proper paperwork — a passport and a commercial driver’s license.

The mayor said he used the trip to also go to Washington, D.C., and meet with the state’s congressional delegation. He ran into inclement weather in Arizona.

The truck, built in 1991 and refurbished in 2002, will be used for heavy vehicle rescue and outfitted with cutting tools and Jaws of Life for the purpose.